T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2022 · VOL. CXLV, NO. 7 · yaledailynews.com · @yaledailynews
Dems sweep elections statewide Former Yale Lamont, soccer coach Blumenthal and DeLauro secure to get 5 mon. reelection in prison BY YASH ROY AND CHARLOTTE HUGHES STAFF REPORTERS
While the United States wakes up to a divided federal government, Connecticut and New Haven will continue to be led by Democrats after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Gov. Ned Lamont beat Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski once again, this time by nine points. The two first faced off in 2018, when the Democrat won by just three points. In New Haven, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro marched to victory on Tuesday, beating her Republican opponent Lesley DeNardis — whose father was the last Republican to serve in Connecticut’s third district — by 18 points. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, as well as the city’s nine-member state legislative delegation, all Democrats, also won re-election. New Haven voted for Democrats by a 4-1 margin across the board, but turnout dropped by a third compared to the 2018 midterms, according to the New Haven Independent. “I am humbled and reenerged by the continued confidence New Haven has put in me,” DeLauro said at her victory party. “Thanks to the people of Connecticut I will continue to serve as Chair or Ranking member of House Appropriations and battle for hard working Americans, cutting their taxes and fighting to put money in their pockets.” “We celebrate tonight, but we go back to work tomorrow,” she added.
BY SOPHIE SONNENFELD AND BEN RAAB STAFF REPORTER AND CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro marched to victory on Tuesday, beating her opponent Lesley DeNardis / Zoe Berg, Senior Photographer Statewide sweep All four Democrats who sought reelection to statewide public office prevailed on Tuesday night.
The ticket with Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz is leading by 10.4 points, with 86 SEE ELECTIONS PAGE 5
Student orgs. call for Election Day off BY JANALIE COBB STAFF REPORTER Long lines, lost ballots and limited windows of opportunity characterize student voting experiences at college campuses, and Yale is no exception. Yale Votes has advocated for years in conjunction with the Yale College Council to make Election Day a University holiday. The groups are motivated in part by these burdens — and because the University claims to promote civic engagement and civil service. “Students want to vote and be engaged citizens,” Yale Votes wrote in a 2020 proposal explaining why the University should make
Election Day a holiday. “It’s not a matter of willingness to participate in our democratic process, but a matter of limits on time & flexibility.” YV has been working on this issue since their founding in 2018. The organization originally consisted of a coalition of other groups, including the YCC. While YCC has left the coalition and YV has become an independent student organization, the two groups still work together to advocate for increased voting access on campus. Before 2020’s presidential election, YV along with the YCC’s University Calendar Committee, which works with the University’s official calendar committee on the timing of breaks and university holidays,
advocated for Election Day’s designation as a University holiday. “The committee ultimately rejected the proposal,” Sophie Kane ’24, head chair of YV, stated in an email to the News. “As we understand it, many members of the committee argued that Election Day did not warrant a full day off.” Despite the calendar committee’s decision that Election Day does not necessitate a full vacation day, multiple other universities do offer their students, faculty and staff the day off. Brown University, Columbia University and Swarthmore College have each designated Election Day a university holiday.
Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, a key figure in the 2019 “Varsity Blues” scandal, is going to prison. This decision came Wednesday afternoon when Judge Mark L. Wolff overruled prosecutors’ suggestions as they advocated for Meredith to avoid prison time. Prosecutors recommended that Meredith receive a sentence of one year of supervised release, forfeit $557,774.39—one of two lump sums to reach the total $860,000 Meredith took—and complete 50 hours of community service. But in court on Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf gave Meredith five months in prison, a year of probation, a $19,000 fine and ordered Meredith to forfeit the $557,774.39. “I was disappointed in the outcome as I believed that the government’s recommendation was appropriate, but I Rudy Meredith / Yale Athletics recognize that sentencing decisions are up to the Court,” Eric Rosen, a former prosecutor who led the Varsity Blues prosecution wrote to the News. In a sentencing memorandum filed in court last Monday, prosecutors recommend Meredith should receive that sentence because, without him, they never would have caught onto the larger corruption scandal. That scheme, called “Operation Varsity Blues,” took down 50 celebrity parents and coaches working the so-called “side-door” technique to get their children accepted to prestigious universities. The operation enabled parents to pay for false credentials including fabricated athletic abilities SEE MEREDITH PAGE 4
Yale gets 7,777 early applicants Wi-Fi troubles persist for students The second largSEE DAY OFF PAGE 5
The University is in the midst of gradual network improvements
CROSS CAMPUS
INSIDE THE NEWS
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1980.
Pro-life group threatens Yale spoofers with legal action
Three undergraduates who stole a $10,000 painting from Berkeley college last month were sentenced to perform significant services for Berkeley in restitution for their actions.
PAGE 9 NEWS
BY ANIKA SETH STAFF REPORTER
Hannah Nashed ’26 was in the middle of completing a timed online quiz for class when the Wi-Fi crashed, causing her to lose her place in the assignment. Her problem likely sounds familiar for those who regularly work online in campus spaces. Nashed was just one of fifteen students who described consistent trouble accessing internet connection on campus in interviews with the News. “I have experienced Wi-Fi problems pretty much everywhere,” Nashed said. “It’s particularly bad outside of Sterling [Memorial Library] and on the bottom floor of Bass. Wi-Fi problems have remained unchanged throughout the year.” The University is in the middle of a five-year construction project aimed at modernizing its
Yale College received 7,777 early action applications from prospective members of the class of 2027, marking the second-highest number of early applications in College history. The class of 2025’s record-high number of 7,939 applicants still leads. The early action pool for the class of 2027 is about 6 percent larger than that of the class of 2026, which previously held the second place spot. While that growth is generally consistent across demographics categories, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions noted increases larger than 6 percent in students who identify as a member of an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, students who would be the first in their families to attend college and international applicants. “The admissions office is much more interested in the strength and diversity of the pool of students who apply to Yale each year than simply the number of students who apply,” wrote Jere-
SEE WI-FI PAGE 5
SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 4
BY EVAN GORELICK AND MOLLY REINMANN STAFF REPORTER AND CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Many Wi-FI issues go unreported: none of the students interviewed contacted the Help Desk / Tenzin Jorden, Photography Editor
est early applicant pool on record
PAGE 3 OPINION PAGE 6 NEWS PAGE 13 BULLETIN PAGE 14 SPORTS PAGE B1 WKND
POLICING New haven launches new non-violent crisis response team to supplement NHPD. PAGE 6 NEWS ELECTIONS Yale affiliates mainly donated to liberal candidates and causes during this election season. PAGE 7 NEWS